Whatever Happened to JJ?
by Alyson May
Summary: Does ANYONE remember JJ? Well, I do. This is the tale of Max's first friend, JJ, after Max leaves Anne's house. I bet she never imaged her life would turn out this way. T for safety.
1. Capture

**OK, so I was thinking. What about JJ? You know? JJ? Max's friend from school? What ever happened to her? So, here you go. The story of what happened to JJ.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. The beginning is taken from Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever pages 244-245.**

**Whatever Happened to JJ?**

**Chapter 1**

**Capture**

"Okay, everyone!" I called out to the group that had gathered around Max and me, "She can't talk about it. Let's back off, give her some space."

They cleared away for the most part, all except this really annoying kid, Jim, who I shooed off eventually. then I turned to Max, who had a thankful look on her face.

"Thanks," she smiled, tears still in her eyes, "I still can't believe he's really gone."

"I'm so sorry," I barely breathed, wanting to wrap my arm around her gently, but not wanting to invade her bubble. I tried to think of a supportive _and_ funny thing to say. Finally I came up with, "If only they'd taken _my_ brother instead." A true smile spread across her face, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"I'll see you later. Let me know if I can help – if you need anything," I hugged her softly and turned toward my locker, my ears barely picking up her thanks. She turned the corner swiftly and kept going. I felt a pang of sympathy go through my heart and sighed. Poor Max.

I entered my locker combination and grabbed my science book.

"Too bad about Max's brother," I heard my friend, Kim, say. I turned to face her. She had a truly sad look on her face. Her baby blues revealed her sorrow.

"Yeah, I know," I replied, "I don't even know what to say to her. I can't imagine how she feels right now."

"I know," Kim replied. Then she smiled jokingly, "But what a waste, you know? Iggy was such a _babe_!"

I laughed softly, not finding the joke overly funny.

"He was pretty hot," I admitted.

"Bandada! Bezheet! See-chass! Move, move, move!"

I pivoted to the right. "Was that…Max?" I asked Kim, "What does she mean?"

"Hey! Stop pushing, _freshman!_" I heard an upperclassman shout.

"Miss Ride, slow down!" a teacher yelled at her.

A second later, Max hurled down the hallway I was in, her siblings (minus Iggy) hot on her tail.

"What's wrong?!" I shouted at her, but my voice was lost in the ruckus.

Someone pulled the fire alarm and I turned to glance that way. It was a teacher, cold look in her eyes. She stared right at me and yelled to the entire hallway, "Everyone outside, _now_!"

I was shoved down by a few people behind me and nearly tripped over my own feet trying to get back up. I managed to stand and followed the rush of people to the outside. I fell twice more on the way. Clearly, the upperclassmen don't care about the innocent and wimpy frosh when fire is a risk.

Finally, I was shoved through the double doors at the school's entrance, bursting out into the blindingly bright sunshine.

"JJ!" I heard. I turned to see another one of my friends, Sheri, coming toward me.

"Was the fire down by the science hallway?" I gushed, "I was just about to head that way when the alarm went off."

"No," Sheri said, and a strange look flashed in her eyes, "I thought it was near geometry. I didn't pass it on my way out, so…" She trailed off.

"I bet that girl, Max, had something to do with it." I looked to the left to see Miley Burgess, the school bitch, coming toward me, "I saw her running down the hallway before the alarm went off. Nice choice of friends, JJ."

"Shut up, Miley," I glared at her.

"Oh! No! I hurt her _feelings_!" she used a baby voice on the word 'feelings' "Newsflash, dork, your friend was a _loser_. She was unimportant, insignificant, and…"

"High," Sheri interrupted.

"Sheri!" I snapped.

"Yes, exactly," Miley smirked, "She's _high_. Total stoner."

"No. She's high up in the sky, I mean." Sheri pointed, "Look!"

I looked up along her arm and saw Max and four other dots climbed into the air, higher and higher and higher. But…how?

Then I saw the wings.

I sighed, feeling tiny and unimportant. Most of all I felt stupid. How did I not know??? I thought we were such great friends! Apparently not. I looked at the ground.

"What a _freak_," Miley sneered, and walked away.

I watched as the five figures became smaller and smaller in the blue sky. I could no longer tell which my friend was, but, boy, did it feel weird, knowing someone you'd been friends with was way up there, and you were way down here.

"Alright!" the angry voice of the headmaster shouted, "Everyone's dismissed for the day! Go home! Line up _neatly_ and _orderly_ to call home to your parents! Go!"

I reached in my purse and drew out a cell phone, but realized the headmaster was approaching me, so I held off on dialing home. "Jennifer Bishop!" he yelled, "To my office, now!!!" He stalked away, leaving me to worry over what I'd done.

I sighed, annoyed. Why did he still call me that? Everyone except the headmaster had called me JJ since kindergarten. Why couldn't this guy get it down that I hated my name?

I turned and walked back into the school. The office secretary led me into the principal's office. I took a seat at his desk and waited.

Five minutes later, the principal entered the room, followed by five men in their twenties, looking incredibly sexy. Two of the men stood beside the door, two sat on either side of me, and one stood behind the headmaster as he sat at his desk. I tried to flash one a sexy smile, but they kept on looking ahead, unphased.

"Jennifer Bishop," the headmaster began, "Do you know this girl?" Mr. Pruitt held a photo of Max.

I nodded, "Yes. She's my friend."

"Riiiiiiiight," Mr. Pruitt said as if he didn't believe me, "Did you have any knowledge of this girl being an avian-human hybrid species?"

I sighed. I would've laughed if I hadn't seen Max fly away, becoming just a tiny dot in the sky. "No," I said, "but she's still my friend."

"This girl is not your friend, Jennifer," Mr. Pruitt went on. He was pissed now, "She will betray you. She only cares about herself. She was not and will never be your friend."

I twitched a little. For some reason, that stung. Mainly since I was positive Max was my friend.

"Now, these men here would like you to help them track Max Ride down. Could you help them with that?" Mr. Pruitt gave a small nod and all of the sexy men began to inch closer.

"Um…no…I've gotta get home and babysit…" I did my best to make my lie sound convincing but these men were making me nervous. I stood and slipped past two of them, but was just blocked by two more. Each of them grabbed my arms and held me tight.

I screamed, unable to do anything else. "Let me go!!!!!!" I snapped, kicking with my legs. But then a bag was slipped over my head and the last thing I remembered was smelling something sickly sweet.

……………………………………………………………………………..

I groaned awake. The room I was in was incredibly dark, giving me an eerie feeling that I was alone and in a bad place. I tried to sit up but found myself strapped to an operating table. I gasped, suddenly freaked. What was this place? The hospital from hell?

I tried to push myself out of the restraints, but found myself unable to move at all except an inch in either direction. I probably looked like I was having a seizure, but I didn't care.

But when nothing worked and I'd worn myself out, I gave up trying to get loose and just sat there.

A long time later, a man walked through the door. He was short and wore a white lab coat. His white hair was a knotted mess piled on his balding head.

"Vhat iss your name, girl?" he asked.

"JJ," I replied.

"Und you know de vun dey call Max, yes?" he asked casually.

"Yeah," I answered, "She's my friend. Where am I?"

"You vould be in a castle in Germany," he said.

He paced over to turn the lights on, and I saw his name badge. Ter Borcht. Wait. I'd heard of him before…yeah…Max had been on a computer in study hall and was reading about it on the Internet. I had looked over to see what she was doing, but didn't understand what it was about. I supposed ter Borcht had been an actor or singer or writer or someone like that. Not a guy in a white lab coat.

"Do my parents know where I am?" I asked him.

"Yes," he answered plainly, "Dey were informed."

"Why am I here?" I asked. Hey, if he wasn't going to talk, I would.

"You are to anzer some questions regarding Maximum Ride!" ter Borcht shouted, "If you do not cooperate, you vill be exterminated!" He took a minute to compose himself, then said, "Did Max mention vhere she would be going?"

I recalled Max mentioning to me that her little siblings Ariel, Tiffany-Krystal and Zephyr wanting to go to Disneyworld, but something told me I should keep that to myself, "No. She didn't talk much about her past."

"You are lying," ter Borcht said.

"What makes you think that?" I snapped as snootily as possible.

"We have technology here zat no one else in the vorld has," ter Borcht said.

"What, like a lie detector that actually works?" I laughed. He stepped to the side and I gasped, "Good Lord, that thing looks real!"

"Tell me the truth!" ter Borcht snapped.

"Or you'll do what?" I sneered at him.

"I can hurt you more dan you've ever been hurt before. I can get corporate funding to turn your body inside out. I can kill you. I could even bring you back to life," ter Borcht said, sending a chill down my spine, "If you are no use to me, than you vill not be kept around." He came closer to me, poking a needle into my skin and beginning to inject it.

Pain surged through my body. "OK, OK!" I managed to choke out. Another needle was injected, and the pain went away, "Disneyworld. Her younger siblings wanted to go to Disneyworld. They were always whining about wanting to go. Max was annoyed that they wouldn't stop talking about it. She also said she hoped she'd be able to save up enough money to take them someday. She said something about working towards getting them there."

"Zank you, JJ," ter Borcht said, obviously pleased with himself, "You may be useful after all." He turned to his assistant, who had just entered the room, "Take de girl to an empty room. Treat her well."

I examined the woman as she wheeled my hospital table out of that room and into another. That woman looked surprisingly like my social studies teacher…

**.dafjkdjslkfjadslkjfkdsjfjdskfajsd.**

**I know this is kind of short, but I want to end it here. I need feedback. If you don't like it, I won't even bother trying to finish it. But I think this story has some potential. Let me know!**

**By the way, I just want to let you know that I have absolutely NO idea what to write next. Ideas are greatly welcomed:)**

**-bored out of my mind-**

**-Alyson May-**


	2. Going Under

Whatever Happened to JJ

**Whatever Happened to JJ?**

**Chapter Two**

**Going Under**

When I woke up the next morning, I thought back on my memories. _That was one crazy dream,_ I thought, _I wouldn't never thought my subconscious who have been able to stir _that_ up. I'm more creative than I thought._

I made to roll over on my bed, but found that I was unable to. My eyes snapped open. Where the hell was I? What had happened? How did I get here?

Then a man walked through the door and everything flooded back to me: Max leaving, being taken to Mr. Pruitt's office, waking up here, talking to ter Borcht. _No,_ I thought, _This can't be happening. I can't be here. I can't die. I want to go home! This has nothing to do with me! Why, why, _why, _do I manage to get myself into these kinds of things?! I'm supposed to go to medical school! You can't go to medical school if you are forced to drop out of the 9th grade and strapped to a table for twenty years! Those are the kinds of things that happen to people on the news! Not me! _Not_ me!!_

"The specimen looks stressed," the man said into a walkie-talkie, "Extra sedatives may be required." Then he turned to me. "What is your name?"

"JJ," I responded.

"Age."

"Fourteen."

"Grade."

"Ninth."

"IQ."

"I've never taken an IQ test."

He wrote that down. "GPA."

"Three-point-eight."

"Are you allergic to anything?"

"Bees."

"Alright. Nothing else?"

"No."

He spoke into the walkie-talkie again. "The specimen is ready for insertion."

"We'll bring the sedatives," a voice spoke back.

I hadn't noticed the IV attached to my hand until then. But that was when my heart race picked up, right before they began to shoot things into my body and I became limp.

After that, I'm unsure of the time that went by. It couldn't hours, or minutes, or even days. All I know is that I was so far under that I couldn't speak or think coherent sentences. I couldn't even find my lips. I felt the doctors faintly tugging at my skin. Were they cutting or just poking? My eyes remained shut, and I listened to them as they spoke.

"What happened to the six mutants that escaped from Anne Walker's house?"

"We don't know. We have Ari tracking them down now."

"They escaped again?"

"Yes."

"Damn. Those are tricky ones."

"Jeb says they're the most successful experiment yet."

"Ter Borcht doesn't agree."

"Oh. I know."

"He's hoping we can recapture them and figure out a way to get them on our side."

"China wants them for a weapon."

"How much?"

"They're offering 85 trillion dollars."

Someone whistled.

"Ter Borct won't accept any less than a hundred though."

"He's a competitive man."

"Should the heartbeat on the specimen be this high?"

"Probably not. Raise the sedative flow. If it wakes up, we won't be able to continue."

"Alright."

Then I could not longer hear complete sentences. In fact, I saw nothing but pitch black, I heard nothing but what sounded like water in my ears, and I felt nothing but being touched from what seemed like a very long ways away.

And that's how it remained for what I later learned was two long, difficult weeks for my body.

**x X x X x X x**

**Sorry dudes. I know this is even shorter than my last chapter. But you understand, don't you? I had to stop it here. I am a writer, and any longer would have made the chapter seem lengthy and awkward.**

**BUT. Just remember. I am going to go take a potty break and then get right back on this compoopy and write the next chapter. Happy? I hope so.**

**-BLAQK AUDIO ROCKS!!-**

**-Alyson May who is sleepy and has got to pee-**


	3. Waking Up

Whatever Happened to JJ

**Whatever Happened to JJ?**

**Chapter Three**

**Waking Up**

_Ping!_

That was the first sound that was able to shove past the sedatives on the last day of my 'sleep'. The question was, had the sound come from inside of me or outside of me?

I heard footsteps. Voices. A door opened. A door shut. The footsteps came closer. The voices started up again. This time, I could make out the words. Their understanding made sense to me now.

"She should've woken up by now!" a doctor yelled. A male. Older. His voice was familiar. But from where?

"Patience is necessary for this kind of thing, Doctor. She will wake up when she is ready to wake up." This was another male, younger than the first one. I'd never heard his voice before. Then the first doctor began to yell again, screaming at the young doctor.

I pondered opening my eyes. I was sure I would be able to. But would I like what I would see?

"Wait," the younger doctor said, quieting the old doctor, "Her heart rate has picked up. We're detecting brain activity! She could wake up any moment! She could even be awake now!"

Suddenly I felt breath in my ear. Then yelling. "WAKE UP!!"

I opened my eyes.

I looked at him.

I recognized him.

"Ter Borcht."

He blinked back at me. Surprised.

"You need an Altoid."

He became red. Purple. A vein popped out. And another. He screamed. He came closer. He screamed more.

I didn't listen. I looked. I blinked. I yawned. I sat up. I was unaware of the harnesses holding me down, even as I tore through them and sat up anyways. The blanket covering my femininity fell and I pulled it up curtly. I looked to the young doctor's face with a blank expression.

"Good morning, JJ," the younger doctor beamed.

I cringed. "Ick."

The doctor looked puzzled. "What?"

"The name. JJ." I cringed again.

"What's wrong with that? When you were human you liked that as your name."

"I'm not human anymore." The words came out with no trace of questioning in them. I was only partially aware of how true that was at the time, but I still said it confidently. "Now, on that matter, tell me, Doctor…" I trailed off. I wanted a name.

"Keith. Richard Keith."

"Dr. Keith," I nodded, "Tell me. What have you done to me?" My voice was level as I said the words. It was a wonder that as I assessed the look of myself in the mirror directly across from me, how very human I looked. But I looked older, that was for certain. I was still recognizable as Jennifer Joy Bishop to anyone who had spent over a week's dosage of time with me, but there was something different about me. I felt older, for one, but also physical things. My body seemed to have stretched itself in the time that I'd been under. I was taller. My hair was shinier, prettier than it had been formerly. And finally, I felt more mature.

Dr. Keith took a long time to reply. When he did, I stared levelly at him the entire time. "We enhanced all of your senses: sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. Your bones are like that of steel and your fingernails are like that of nails. Your brain now functions thirty-two times quicker than before. You can process information quicker than even the most highly advanced geniuses. You can solve equations like 2354643423 divided by 234 quicker than a computer—"

"10062578.73076923076," I interrupted.

Dr. Keith was confused. "Excuse me?"

"That's what 2354643423 divided by 234 equals. Just proving your point." The old me would've been embarrassed that he didn't understand. The new me didn't care.

Dr. Keith looked pleased. "You see?! You're a wonderful piece of technology!"

"Continue your explanation."

"Oh. Right," Dr. Keith thought for a moment, regaining his thought process, "Right. Here we are. You have the physical body of a seventeen-year-old, but the mental capabilities of a thirty-year-old genius. You have the potential to evolve into so much more, having powers that can only be seen in Marvel comics and other…rare occurrences. We've estimated that you can run at speeds around 50 miles per hour. Your wings have a seventeen foot wing span—"

"_Wings?_" Surprise emanated from my voice. It was the first time my voice had shown any type of emotion.

"Yes," Dr. Keith explained simply.

I made to move my shoulder blades, but instead wings came off of my naked back. I gasped in wonder and glee. They were a rich chestnut color with lighter tan streaks on the underside. I pushed down hard, once. My body was lifted slightly off the hospital bed, then went back down. I used my shoulders to shake them and giggled softly.

"JJ?"

My attention immediately was snapped back to Dr. Keith. I glared at him, all traces of happiness diminished. "What?"

"You need a name," he said.

I thought, but my brain came up with a name in mere seconds. "Independence," I reply, "Indie. For short."

**x X x X x X x**

**Yeah, so basically, I updated. Happy? I hope so.**

**I saw WALL-E. It was friggin amazing. Good message. The most serious animated movie I've ever seen in my **_**life**_**. WALL-E was adorable. So was Eve.**

_**Eve and WALL-E sitting in a tree**_

_**K-I-S-S-I-N-G**_

_**First comes love!**_

_**Then comes marriage!**_

_**Then comes the robot in the electro-carriage!**_

**Hehe! I also went on my first drive today…I drove on the freeway…and in the city…and in really sharp turns. It was FREAKISH. Myeah.**

**Go to the blog: www (dot) onecoolnerd (dot) blogspot (dot) com**

**Yes. I am pushing it on people. But I don't friggin care!**

**-Lalalalalalalaaa-**

**-Alyson May who is hurting herself by talking on the phone with Ashen Jade because the phone is being held against her shoulder and her face and it hurts both the shoulder and the face but that is the pain she faces so she can talk to her BFF-**


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